Deadline looms for Pennsylvania virus-shutdown waivers

Pennsylvania businesses are running out of time if they want an exemption from Gov. Tom Wolf’s shutdown order as state health officials on Thursday reported more than 1,200 new cases of COVID-19.

Wolf ordered all “nonlife-sustaining” businesses to shutter their physical locations until further notice to help slow the spread of the coronavirus but established a waiver process for companies that believe they should be exempt.

The Wolf administration announced a deadline of 5 p.m. Friday for waiver applications, prompting an outcry from small-business advocates who said the deadline was premature and would create additional hardship for struggling employers.

“There has been a huge waiting list for waivers, and it is important not to prohibit a necessary business from playing a role in the emergency,” said Gordon Denlinger, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business. “We are asking Gov. Wolf to reconsider the shutdown of the waiver program.”

The state received more than 34,000 waiver requests through Wednesday. The Department of Community and Economic Development has approved more than 5,600 requests and denied at least 8,600. More than 8,100 requests were filed by businesses that did not need them to continue to operate, agency spokeswoman Casey Smith said Thursday.

Businesses that remain open to the public include grocery stores, pharmacies, hotels and motels, beer distributors, laundromats, and gas stations. Restaurants are open only for take-out orders. The open list also includes farms, mines, food production and some manufacturing.

Car dealers, clothing stores and other retailers, salons, and entertainment venues are among those on the shuttered list.

Through Wednesday, Pennsylvania State Police issued 136 warnings to businesses violating the shutdown order. No business has been cited.